White Wednesday

When Robert and I first started living together about eight years ago we had a cat crisis straight away.  I had calico Molly who at the time was ten years old and at the height of her orneryness before she mellowed into old age and Robert had a white cat named Alaska who was sixteen and as gentle as they come.  Alaska, or Allie for short, had been living with Robert's ex then quite unexpectedly one day he got a call, the cat was no longer wanted and he better come and get it. 

Miss Allie

Molly was accustomed to being an only child and was not interested in a roommate, which she did not hesitate to show Allie at every opportunity. The one advantage that newcomer Allie had was size, she was a big girl who weighed about twenty pounds with fluffy white fur that made her look even larger.  Molly was no featherweight herself, but she also wasn’t an idiot and gave mountainous Allie a wide berth.  They seemed to stake out different areas of the house to call their own and learned to live surprisingly harmoniously within their set boundaries; Molly slept with us and Allie had the second bedroom across the hall.  The only time trouble erupted was when we got home from work, both cats would emerge from their separate territory and head to the shared ground of the living room in order to be with us.  They would walk around a corner and find themselves face to face.  Much hissing, posturing and air batting would ensue but neither seemed to do the other much harm.

reluctant friends

After several months had passed, Allie and Molls settled into a peaceful existence and one day when I came home from work I found Molly in Allie's bedroom.  Granted they were on different ends of the bed but it was a start and I was very happy (and snapped the one and only picture of them together).  Unfortunately shortly after this picture was taken Allie became very ill with diabetes and went to the bridge.  I know that Molly had not liked her at first, but for weeks after Allie was gone, I would find Molly in Allie's bedroom sitting on the bed missing her friend.  I hope Allie was waiting for Molly when she joined her at the bridge last September.